Judge Defended

I’m sorry that this response is tardy, but it was only after returning from an out-of-town trip that an excellent May 29 piece (“Agony, Anger Spur Head of MADD”) by Wendy Haskett on Norma Phillips, president of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, was brought to my attention.

The article captured the anguish of people devastated by drunk drivers, and gave MADD deserved credit for its work with victims, with legislators and with the criminal justice system. At the district attorney’s office, we have found the San Diego chapter of MADD to be highly professional, reasonable and genuinely concerned for the quality of justice, and it was good to see them get recognition.

There was one point in the article which bears clarification, however. The piece compares the sentences given two drunk drivers who were involved in separate accidents that claimed the lives of two children in the same family. You point out that in one case, Superior Court Judge Richard Huffman sent the driver off to a year in custody and imposed a number of other conditions, while in the other, North County Municipal Court Judge Suzanne Knauf imposed only three days’ custody, probation and a fine. The implication is that Judge Knauf was too lenient.

In the district attorney’s office we strongly object to leniency for drunk drivers, but this was not such an instance. In the North County case, the pre-sentence probation report correctly states that “the defendant was not at fault for the accident.” Although he was a 0.12 (blood-alcohol level), “all information and subsequent investigation by authorities reveals that there was no way this tragic accident could have been avoided,” the report says. The defendant, who had no criminal history and only a 2-year-old speeding ticket on his record, was driving at an estimated 38 m.p.h. in a 35 zone when the victim darted out in front of his car, leaving no driver, sober or otherwise, the opportunity to stop in time.

In passing sentence, Judge Knauf asked our deputy district attorney if we had evidence linking the inebriation to the death. We did not. She asked if we had any reason why this defendant should not be sentenced as a first-time drunk driver. We did not. The accident was without question tragic. But in this particular case, Judge Knauf’s decision was proper, and one with which our office agreed.

STEVE CASEY

Special assistant

to the district attorney

San Diego